Meadow
by KennBoKenn
Summary: Beyal's got a new pet and decides to entrust him to Jinja and Dax for the day. As simple as that sounds, it's surprising what shenanigans two teens and a rabbit can get up to. Humour spiced up with some surprise angst. T for language and mild themes. Jinja x Dax. Oneshot. Read and review!


**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to a one shot about rabbits, Jinja and Dax! My sister's rabbit inspired this one but I hope she never finds this story because I know she wouldn't find it sweet even for a second… I have nothing against rabbits just so you all know, I love our rabbit very much!**

 **So without further delay:**

 **I do not own _Monsuno, Monsuno_ belongs to it's rightful owners and I only take some of their already established ideas and weave them into these wild and out there tales!**

 **Please be warned that this fic is rated T for language and possibly upsetting material. As long as you know it's all a joke and not to be taken seriously you'll be fine!**

 **Thanks again to everyone who's chosen to give me and this fic a chance! Please read and review, that would be awesome!**

 **Enjoy guys!**

 **OoOoOoOoOo**

 **Meadow**

"Really, Jinja," Beyal whispered in his tell-tale mousey voice. "It's not an issue if this task is unsuited to you." His cloudy grey eyes shifted to the pie-bald mountain of fluff nestled in his cupped hands. "I can always hide him inside my bag."

"No, no!" Jinja insisted, placing a hand on Beyal's shoulder. "I'd love to look after him, Beyal! We had loads of pets at home, you can count on me!"

Beyal raised a white eyebrow. "You have experience looking after rabbits?"

Jinja nodded vigorously. "Yeah!" She chimed eagerly. "I mean, no," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck bashfully. "But I'm sure he won't be a handful! You've had Meadow, what, three days? I'm sure that if he was trouble we'd know by now!"

Beyal considered her words, patting the rabbit, Meadow, with a slow hand. "I guess that's true." He concluded, Meadow nuzzling into his chest. "He's very calm, I don't think he'd cause you much trouble." He fixed Jinja with a questioning but gentle gaze. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Jinja melted.

 _Beyal was beyond cute!_

Worrying about her and stuff.

No question about it, she had to look after this rabbit. Looking after Meadow would win her some serious brownie points with Beyal.

And Meadow was pretty cute.

Jinja hadn't really come into much contact with animals in several weeks and she had to admit that she was kind of missing the feel of fur between her fingers and the undying loyalty and companionship only an animal could bring.

Of course she had her Monsuno, Charger, Whipper and Skyfall, but they weren't really animals, per say.

Looking after Meadow would make for a fun day whilst Beyal, Chase and Bren were out on the supply run.

And maybe make her forget about her grumbling stomach for more than two seconds, she hadn't eaten since last night and ' _dinner_ ' ( _if you could even call it that, because anything Chase and Bren conjured up couldn't possibly be considered 'food'_ ) hadn't been particularly eventful.

Fresh algae salad.

 _Yum_.

"Of course not!" She laughed, squeezing his shoulder. "In fact, Meadow and I have some much needed catching up to do! I haven't even got to hold him yet!" She took the rabbit from Beyal's hands, running a finger down his back. She flashed him a smile. "I'd love to look after your rabbit, Beyal!"

This seemed to put Beyal at ease. "We shouldn't be too long. Town's about an hour from here, I think we'll make it back in about two hours and thirty minutes." He dusted the fur from his hands, pulling his tan cloak closer to his shoulders, his eyes meeting Jinja's. "Do you think you can handle him for that long?"

Jinja's heart skipped a beat.

He had the most _beautiful_ eyes.

And he sounded so concerned for Meadow.

 _A kind heart and a lover of animals?_

He was _perfect_.

Beyal was so dreamy, and she was sure he didn't even know it.

"Jinja?" Came Beyal's breathy voice and Jinja started.

"Y-yeah?" Jinja gargled, the faintest trace of red touching her freckled cheeks. "I mean, yeah!" She repeated with more bravado. "Meadow is safe with me, Beyal! Don't you worry about him for a second!" She rubbed Meadow's black ear between her fingers. "You just focus on getting to and back from town safely, okay?"

Beyal hesitated, as if trying to decipher her blush, Jinja feeling his eyes focused on her flustered face. After a moment, he nodded, closing the distance between them and placing his hand on Jinja's.

Jinja flinched, knowing full well that Beyal had felt it, her skin flushing as pink as a rose.

His tan fingers squeezed her hand gently. "I know I can trust you, Jinja." He reassured in that silky, soft voice, his eyes never leaving her's. "You don't have to feel anxious. Meadow is safe with you."

 _Was that the conclusion he'd come to?_

Jinja didn't care.

 _Beyal was totally touching her right now._

She nodded frantically, praying Beyal couldn't hear the drumming of her heart at such a close distance.

"Got it." She laughed nervously, trying to remember every detail of Beyal's face at such an intimate proximity. This was the closest they'd probably stood together _ever._

She couldn't help but feel disappointed when Beyal removed his hand, picking up a small bag at his feet.

Maybe if she did a good job of looking after Meadow, there'd be plenty more of where that came from.

Beyal pulled his hood over his head, picked up his bag and glanced behind him at the campfire where Chase and Bren were standing, already packed and ready to go.

"I'll be back, Jinja." Beyal whispered over his shoulder, making his way over to the two boys.

"All good, Beyal?" Chase asked the monk, taking a sip from a nearly empty water bottle.

Beyal gave a brief nod. "Yes."

Chase looked over to Bren. "Bren?"

Bren sighed. "Yeah. Those cup noodles aren't gonna get themselves."

"And don't forget those _Chokitos_!" Dax called from the remains of the fire they'd huddled around last night. He was sitting on the opposite side of the camp fire, working on something with his hands intently, a frown etched onto his face.

"Still have no idea what a _Chokito_ is, Dax!" Bren called back, exasperated.

Dax's frown deepened. " _Mars Bars_ then." He grumbled, yanking at something in his grasp with a hard tug. "Next best thing." He grunted under his breath, his fingers working at top speed.

Bren opened his mouth to retort something back but Chase clasped a hand on his shoulder, turning to Beyal.

"Back me up here, Bren." Chase held up a hand, listing off his fingers. "So, we're trying to snag some blankets, food, torches-"

" _Mars bars._ " Dax grunted raising a hand.

"And _Mars bars."_ Chase added, giving Dax a sideways glance. "Speaking of which, you comin' with us, Dax?"

The moment the words left Chase's mouth Bren groaned, clamping a hand to his mouth when Dax looked up in his direction.

Dax's dark eyes glinted and he shrugged. "Nah," he droned, stuffing whatever he'd been fiddling with into his coat pocket. "Not this time, Suno. Still recoverin' from those blisters from our last endeavor."

"No you're not!" Jinja cried indignantly, drawing the attention of Chase, Beyal and Bren.

It didn't take a genius to know that when Jinja started yelling, chaos and hospital visits were soon to follow. Especially when it came down to Dax.

But Dax seemed unbothered, uninterested in arguing even, and kicked some sand into the fire pit.

He was surprisingly level and indifferent as he spoke, "S.T.O.R.M's out there, we know that for a fact." He snatched up a stick lying on the dirt ground near his feet and waved it in a circular motion. "Leavin' ya here or anyone of us here alone would be suicide, even you have to know that. Besides," Dax's eyes found Jinja's, then dropped to Meadow. "Dyin' for a bloody rabbit seems a little anticlimactic for you, don't cha think? No offense, Monkfish." Dax added, waving the stick in Beyal's direction.

"None taken." Said Beyal, looking over to Jinja. "In fact, I must agree with Dax. I think it would be a lot safer if you had company while we are away."

"We're not saying you're not capable, Jinja." Chase butted in, knowing how quickly she could take anything in a bad way once she was in a state. "Just that if something did happen, you'd have Dax too."

Jinja huffed, rolling her eyes. "But nothing's gonna happen, Chase. We haven't seen any sign of S.T.O.R.M in weeks and we're out in the middle of nowhere. The closest town is rural, there's no way they even know how to get out here."

"I think you'd be surprised what S.T.O.R.M is capable of." Dax interjected, his hands knotted together under his chin.

Jinja shot him a venomous look. _"Butt out!"_

Dax's stern expression dropped and he raised an eyebrow. "You wanna see my _arse?"_

"It means ' _stay out of it',_ Dax." Beyal piped up, Chase dumbfounded and Bren unsuccessfully trying to stifle a giggle.

A crooked grin touched Dax's features. "Well, would you look at that." He chortled, placing a hand on his knee. "Monkfish knows about arses? Didn't think it'd be in your peaceful vocabulary, little man."

"Look," Jinja intercepted as Beyal opened his mouth, walking over to Dax. "Dax only wants to stay here to be a pain in my ass. No one's gonna find me, nothing's gonna happen to me, but if Dax stays behind with me he's sure as hell going to get my fist in his face." Jinja shrugged. "Or you could, you know, take him with you."

Chase opened his mouth to talk but Dax's obnoxious laughter cut over whatever he had planned to say.

 _"He's sure as hell going to get my fist in his face?'"_ Dax squeaked in a terrible impression of Jinja's voice. He looked up at her, fixing her with his smuggest grin. He kicked out a leg, the top of his shoe just bumping her's. "Not if I knock the wind outta ya first, princess."

"Try me, Dax!" Jinja roared, kicking him back, only much harder.

"Dax," Chase sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. This wasn't getting anywhere. Jinja and Dax could really be like children sometimes. "You're not helping. I'm trying to convince her to let you stay with her. Don't antagonize her."

"What's that?" Dax said, cupping a hand around his ear. " _Don't feed the wildlife?_ Nah mate, no worries, I got'cha."

"He's not staying." Jinja stressed, looking at Dax down the bridge of her nose like he was the slimiest, most awful creature in the universe, which really he was.

"He has to, Jinja." Said Bren, hoisting his bag higher onto his back. "S.T.O.R.M's out there whether you want to admit it or not.

"You're one of our most valued fighters." Chase said, trying to diffuse the tension. "We can't afford to lose you."

Jinja's expression softened. "You're not going to lose me Chase, it's safe out here."

"How do you know that?" Murmured Dax from the log, all traces of teasing gone from his voice.

"It's two hours, Jinja." Chase reasoned, running a hand through his dark hair. "We'll be back before you know it."

"Be the bigger person." Bren whispered, but nothing got past Dax. "U-Um, I mean, let Dax stay and I'll get you some sweet tea."

Jinja weighed up her options. There was no way she and Dax were going to get along, but there was a lot of truth to Chase and Bren's words. Even Dax, though she'd never admit it, weighed in on the more reasonable solution. She couldn't be alone right now, not with all the spies potentially combing the area for them, no matter how slim that chance was.

And besides, she had Meadow, it's not like she was agreeing to this for him.

And at the very least it was kind of wonderful knowing Beyal was worried about her.

She knew what had to be done.

"I do love sweet tea." She sighed under her breath, stroking Meadow's fur for comfort. "Fine, Dax stays, so long as I don't have to enjoy it."

Chase nodded. "Deal." It was as good as it was gonna get.

"Just try not to kill each other before we get back." Said Bren, wringing his hands.

"Speaking of which," came Beyal's voice, peaking Jinja's attention. Beyal was usually quiet but he seemed awfully quiet today. "Meadow is a friend of the forest, Jinja. Friends of the forest thrive from positive energy."

" _Friend of the forest?_ " Dax laughed to himself, slapping his knee with a hard hand.

"Rabbits like Meadow are special, prey animals like him are pure and they need good energy to thrive." Beyal continued, as if he hadn't heard Dax. "If I may insist that you and Dax try to get along, that would make Meadow very happy."

"Sure, Beyal." Jinja agreed, ignoring Dax's cocky grin beaming up at her out the corner of her eye. "Whatever makes Meadow happy."

"It may benefit you too."

Jinja nodded, but she knew all too well how far from the truth that was.

 _Her and Dax getting along?_

 _Impossible._

"Alright then, guys," Chase said, as he stretched out his arms. "We gonna get going before the sun goes down?"

"Ready when you are." Bren replied, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Beyal nodded. "Ready."

Chase shot Jinja and Dax a look as they turned to leave the campsite, feet hitting the dirt path that would lead them to town.

It'd didn't take much for Jinja to recognize that look, she'd spent enough time with Chase growing up to know exactly what it meant.

 _Behave._

It seemed Dax hadn't picked up on it, mirroring it as he raised a hand in a half-hearted wave. "See ya, Suno." He grumbled, pulling himself off the log. "Glasses, Monkfish." He said in farewell as Beyal and Bren passed.

Bren waved a hand in goodbye. "We'll catch ya later then, guys."

"Bye." Said Jinja, bundling Meadow up in her arms. "Stay safe!"

"You too." Said Chase, finally on the way to town.

"It better be peach, Bren!" Jinja yelled at Bren's shrinking figure. "Peach or don't come home!"

Bren raised a hand as he disappeared over the horizon, Beyal and Chase at his side.

Well, at least food and drink were coming soon.

Staking it out with Dax on the other hand, was a time game.

2 _hours 30 minutes?_ As much as it seemed impossible, Jinja tried to think of it as doable. This was about Meadow and doing something nice for Beyal. She didn't have to let Dax ruin her experience.

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Jinja made for a nice clump of grass poking out from a flowerbed.

She sat down, scratching Meadow behind the ears. It'd be best to just ignore Dax for the next few hours. She tired to usurp an air of false positivity.

What was to say that Dax was going to be a nuisance anyways?

"So," Came a low voice in her ear, an arm slinking around her shoulders. "We gonna get along like Monkfish asked?"

Right.

 _Dax being Dax._

Jinja fidgeted out of his grasp,

"Awww, come on," Dax whined and million different ways of slapping him flashed through Jinja's mind. "It doesn't have to be like this, y'know.

Jinja sighed. "What do you want, Dax?"

Dax shrugged. "I know you're only doin' this for Monkfish." He tugged a blade of grass from the ground and placed it between his lips. "No one sane would jump at the opportunity to babysit a rabbit for a few hours willy nilly."

Jinja swept her legs to her right, turning herself around on the grass until she was facing the other way, his face out of sight. "Why did you insist on staying behind with me?"

And she did want to know.

Dax's intentions were rarely good.

She could hear Dax approaching behind her, shuffling forward on his knees until he was close enough that she could feel his breath on her back.

 _Gross_.

"Isn't that obvious?" He breathed, making sure as much of his breath fanned across the nape of her neck as possible. "Maybe I just wanted to hang out with my _favorite_ princess in the whole world."

Without taking her eyes away from Meadow, Jinja swatted at him blindly like he was no more than an incredibly annoying, giant mosquito. "And I totally wanted to spend the rest of today hanging out with my _favorite_ dungeon toll." She snarled, her voice stern and devoid of all humor.

This was going to be a _long_ two hours.

Dax was in front of her, on his stomach, hands on his cheeks. He batted his eyelashes at her and Jinja fought the overwhelming urge to puke. "I'm your _favorite?"_ He gushed sweetly, only this was Dax, so really not that sweetly at all.

"Piss off, Dax." He grinned, even though her eyes were shooting daggers.

She went to stand up but Dax scuttled out of the way, rising to a sitting position and scooting away from her just enough that she decided it wasn't worth the energy.

She could deal with him sitting near her, as long as he wasn't too near.

She seriously doubted he'd leave her alone for more than two seconds anyway.

Dax ran a hand through his hair, pulling grass out of his dreadlocks. "If ya wanna know the truth, then the truth is I've actually been workin' on somethin'." He yanked on a prickle that hung from his fringe, chucking it behind him. "Didn't wanna stop for too long."

 _So he hadn't been telling the truth?_

A thin smile stretched across Jinja's face.

 _Jackpot!_ She thought to herself, a little taken aback by how excited she was.

"So the whole stay with Jinja to protect her from S.T.O.R.M kidnappers wasn't true?" She purred, and she knew Dax could hear the sarcasm in her voice too.

Dax fixed her with what Jinja thought to be a surprisingly serious look. "Nah, that part was true." _Dammit!_ Jinja thought. "That's how S.T.O.R.M works, those guys don't mess around. They'll catch ya with ya pants down, especially now that Suno has made a name for himself, it puts you guys at jeopardy too." He pulled the contraption he'd been working on earlier from his pocket, holding it up for her to see. "And this is what I wanted to finish."

Jinja observed what appeared to be a long piece of rope tied off into certain sections with a series of different knots. Dax had always been particularly handy with his hands and was one of those people who knew bits and pieces of everything. Years from drifting on the Lowlands Jinja suspected.

Whatever it was, Jinja couldn't help thinking that it looked pretty ordinary, considering that Dax had been working on it so carefully earlier.

"What is it?" She asked, her hand resting on Meadow's head.

"It's a snare, traps animals that are unlucky enough to walk into it."

Jinja frowned. "I know what a snare is Dax, but why are you making one?"

Dax slipped his fingers between one of the knots. "Can never be too prepared. There might come a day when the whole S.T.O.R.M thing gets so bad we might not be able to go anywhere near civilization." He looked up at Jinja from under his brow. "Possums, squirrels, small birds," his eyes fell on Meadow. "Rabbits, one day this snare might be providin' for ya, ya never know."

Jinja cradled Meadow to her chest. "I can't tell if you're being serious or teasing me because I got Meadow."

Dax sighed. "Nothin' of the sort. Just sayin' that S.T.O.R.M's a menace and we should be preparin'. But Suno and Glasses don't really care and it's hard to tell where Monkfish stands."

She didn't really want to know but Jinja's curiosity swayed her. "And where do you think I stand?"

Dax froze, the snare still in his hands. "Hard to say," he said finally after a moment's hesitation. "I think ya get that S.T.O.R.M is a threat but I don't think ya realize to what extent." He tapped his temple with a dark finger. "I've seen 'em up close, remember? I know how they work, how they think, but you're willing to present yourself as a gift to them over your Monk friend's bunny."

 _Wow_ , was Dax really in a position to be giving opinions about how others dealt with the looming menace that was S.T.O.R.M?

 _The guy had literally worked for them not so long ago!_

Jinja felt her heart quicken in her chest and her fingers start to shake. She wasn't kidding about putting her fist in his face, _she'd do it._

"Well I think you don't know a thing about me." She snarled. "I was apart of this group long before you showed up, Beyal too. You've always underestimated me." Her hands darted across Meadow's shoulders but his touch no longer seemed comforting. "And speaking of which, why do you always pick on Beyal?"

Dax drew a sharp breath through his teeth. "Okay, princess, that wasn't what any of this was about, but if you wanna make it about Monkfish, we can definitely make it about Monkfish."

Jinja grit her teeth, she was seriously seeing red.

Why couldn't the boys get that they just didn't get along?

 _They weren't even ten minutes in and he was driving her up a wall!_

"It's like you have something against him!" She accused, thrusting a finger at him. "I didn't ask for you to be here, I'm only looking after his rabbit! I dunno why you make everything about him."

For some reason or another, this seemed to particularly annoy Dax.

He rose to his knees, a horrible grin stretched across his face and he laughed mockingly. " _You like him_." He spat, accentuating every word. "You're looking after the rabbit cause _you like him."_

"I don't like him!" Jinja cried indignantly, even though she knew it was the furthest thing from the truth. She'd liked Beyal for ages, well and truly since the first time she'd laid eyes on him. "Maybe I'm looking after Meadow cause I want to, how would you know?" She shoved Dax with a hand as he crept closer, his eyes burning into her's. "And even if I did like him, which I don't, I wouldn't be confiding in you about it of all people!"

Dax laughed again, lower this time, but not because he found her words funny. Because he knew he had already won. "And there it is! You definitely like him!" The amount of victory in his voice made Jinja want to slog him. _Dax thought he was so smart._ "Girls always talk like that about boys they like."

"Why are you so hung up on me liking Beyal?" She hissed, her words dripping in venom. "It's none of your business anyways! I'm 16, I can work my own feelings out!"

Dax's eyes glinted and the moment the words had left her mouth, she knew she'd slipped up.

He leant in close, so close his nose was almost brushing her's.

"So ya do like him?" He whispered with triumph.

Jinja lifted a hand to shove him again, but this time Dax caught it and held fast.

Tearing it from his grip, Jinja met his eyes challengingly. She didn't really have many options now. "Seriously, Dax, stop." It was all she could say, he'd backed her up into a corner.

It would've been the perfect opportunity for him, it wasn't often that Jinja ended up this speechless, this trapped. Dax could've snatched up enough blackmail to last him for his next ten lifetimes.

But to Jinja's astonishment, he backed off.

 _Dax, backing off?_

Something was up.

She watched him carefully as he pulled away from her, setting himself down in front of her and reaching out a hand.

"Pass me the rabbit."

It was a simple enough request but it still threw Jinja completely off guard.

 _"What?"_

"Pass me the bloody rabbit."

Okay, now she was getting suspicious. " _Why?"_ She demanded, suddenly back to her hostile state.

But Dax just rolled his eyes. "Cause I wanna hold him? Relax, princess, I've held yowie babies bigger than this guy."

She didn't know why she did it, _(or what the actual crag a yowie or it's babies were)_ but she handed Meadow over, Dax's hands securing him in a snug but safe ball.

He massaged Meadow's ears, his fingers surprisingly gentle. Jinja couldn't recall having ever seen Dax so careful with something, living or otherwise.

"I dunno why you don't just talk to him." He said without taking his eyes off the rabbit. "Everyone knows how you feel about him, Bren included, poor bastard." Jinja shot him an incredulous look and Dax shrugged. "But yeah, why don't just get it over with?"

"How would you know how I feel?" She didn't know why she was asking, any second now Dax was going to turn this whole whatever this was into a shit show.

"We're guys, princess, we might not always know when a girl is interested in us, but we sure as hell can see it when it's someone interested in someone else."

Jinja's mouth turned down at the corners. "That literally makes no sense." It really didn't, maybe Dax had been trying to be poetic, but it just came out sounding like a bunch of crock.

Dax fixed her with an amused look and Jinja's heart skipped a beat.

 _She knew that look._

He was about to say something totally _stupid_.

"You totally wanna kiss yourself a Monkfish."

Well, she wasn't wrong.

"I don't want to kiss him!" She hissed, plucking a handful of grass from the ground and dumping it over his head. Even as she said it, she cringed at how painfully evident it was that she was lying, and she knew Dax had well and truly caught on.

Dax smiled at her smugly. "Of course not, but you wish he'd kiss you." He poked Meadow's fleshy black nose. "I bet you're hopin' he's gonna be your first kiss."

It wasn't so much what he said, but the way he said it.

 _First kiss?_

 _He was making her out to be some kind of loser!_

"I've kissed plenty of boys!" She tried to sound confident as she said it but she knew he wasn't buying it. As much as she hated to admit it, Dax had pretty much figured her out.

Dax laughed. "Pfft! And I'm the Hoff!"

She poked him hard in the ribs, but he didn't even flinch. "I bet you've never even kissed a girl." And she wouldn't be surprised. Dax smelt like trash, she'd hate to know what he tasted like.

For some reason this seemed to amuse Dax. He reached out a hand, poking her in the cheek. "Sweet cheeks," he drawled. "I'll have you know I have kissed many a sheila on the pecker. Dax the Lowlander may not be a ladies man, but he knows his way around a woman."

Jinja batted his hand away and Dax chuckled.

She had no idea what he meant by that, and by god she didn't want to know what he meant when he said he ' _knew his way around a woman.'_

Reaching out a finger, Jinja bopped Dax on the nose. "Then I sure as hell feel sorry for all those poor girls." She hummed in a terribly sweet voice.

But Dax was ready to parry. "One kiss from me princess, you'd be begging for more." It was horrifying how confident he sounded.

"I'm sure." Jinja said unflatteringly. "Also why the sudden interest in my love life anyways?" She was genuinely curious.

 _Had he planned to have this conversation when he offered to stay back?_

It certainly sounded like something Dax would do.

She looked back at Dax, still watching her, still cradling Meadow in his hands.

He meet her eyes squarely, his face, for once, unreadable.

"Ya never heard the sayin' that boys tease girls they like?"

Jinja shivered. "You don't like me, Dax." _God, she hoped not._

He crinkled his nose. "Whatever." He grunted and looked away.

Jinja blinked, a plethora of thoughts surging through her brain.

Dax could be unpredictable at times but today he was acting really odd.

It wasn't unusual for him to tease her about her love life, and it was far from uncommon for him to heckle her about potential boyfriends.

But kidding around the subject of her crushing on Beyal and him, Dax, actually liking her?

It was far cry from the usual way he went about getting on her nerves.

And all else aside, was there a teensy chance Dax wasn't kidding?

Jinja's guts flipped over in her stomach.

That alone sent a weird feeling barreling through her being, a feeling she couldn't describe or quite put as being either good or bad.

He was probably just trying to mess with her head.

It was easier to come to that conclusion and leave it there.

Jinja released a mental sigh of relief, whatever had just happened to her head she was glad it was over and done with and she'd (kinda) worked it out, for now at least.

She was never usually this unsure, for some reason only Dax could make her like this.

And speaking of Dax, he was unusually quiet.

She couldn't recall a time when he'd been this quiet for this long, _ever._

Jinja lifted her eyes from the ground. "Hey-" she started but was cut off by a howl.

"Ah! For the love of Pete!"

Jinja was on her feet in seconds, not bothering to brush the grass from her clothes as she raced to Dax's side, her hands gripping his shoulders.

"Dax?" She cried, her voice urgent, giving him a little shake. "Are you hurt?" Her eyes scanned his body, his hands were tucked away in his jacket pocket but be didn't seem to be particularly hurt. And then a horrible thought hit her. "S.T.O.R.M?" Maybe Dax had been right, maybe S.T.O.R.M had found them and they were toast.

Jinja's eyes flew to the forest, her heart leaping in her chest.

Suddenly a hand was on one of her's and she flinched. She whipped her head around in the direction of it's touch, her eyes drinking in the sight of dark skin on her's.

She couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief at the sight. Dax may have been touching her hand, but that was better than S.T.O.R.M getting the jump on them any day.

But still, Dax was totally touching her hand right now.

 _Yick_.

She shook free of his grasp, kneeling down in front of him, pushing her hair behind her ears.

She tried to avoid making eye contact with him. He had this victorious look in his eyes and the last thing she wanted to do was acknowledge it.

"Were you worried about me just now, toots?" His voice was saturated in teasing.

"What happened?" Jinja demanded, still refusing to make eye contact, her eyes on Dax's shoes. "And where's Meadow?" She realized with a start that she hadn't seen the bunny in quite some time.

"Re-lax," Dax drawled, removing his hands from his pockets and revealing a quivering ball of fur. "And funny you ask actually cause-" This time he cut himself off, his hands flinching as he held tight onto Meadow. "AH!" He hollered, hissing through his teeth, Jinja watching with wide eyes.

"An explanation might help!" Jinja yelled over him, snatching Meadow from him. He wasn't far from the ground but Dax looked like he was seriously about to drop him.

Dax held his hands out to Jinja and she gasped when she saw the red marks littering his dark skin. "Little bugger keeps biting me!" He cried indignantly. "And it bloody well hurts!" He clutched a particularly deep one, not bleeding but still sore looking. "Son of a-"

Jinja shot him a look, a look that Dax knew clearly said ' _I dare you to finish that sentence'._

"Uh, _prostitute?"_ Jinja smacked him. "I tried!" Dax shrilled, but there was no reasoning with her. "God dammit!"

But Jinja didn't have time to reprimand him again.

Tucked away in her hands, Meadow was cutting sick, burrowing and scratching and just generally trying to get away from her.

Jinja raised an eyebrow. "What's up with Meadow? Have you been holding him wrong?"

Dax pulled a face. "I've been holdin' him perfectly fine, princess!" He actually sounded offended.

"Then what's he up to?"

"Looks like he wants to get down." Said Dax after, taking a look at him.

Jinja shook her head. "We can't, Meadow's wild, he'd run away."

"Well, what do we do about it then?" Dax asked, still nursing his bites.

"Maybe we should try and figure out what else he might want, aside from being put down." Jinja offered. "Like maybe he wants a snack or something."

Dax coughed into his hand, talking very quickly and quietly. " _Or-maybe-he-wants-a-nice-lady-rabbit-to-bang."_

"I heard that!" Jinja hissed, throwing another clump of grass at him. "I'm being serious, Dax! This is Beyal's rabbit, it's a big responsibility!"

Dax shook the grass from his hair, still nursing his hand. "I am being serious. Maybe he wants companionship, or maybe he's just mega ultra horny, rabbits are like that, sweets." He laughed under his breath, like he'd made some excellent joke. "Beyal may be a monk but his rabbit probably isn't."

Jinja pulled a face, poking her tongue out at Dax as Meadow continued to struggle between her palms, his teeth dangerously close to her fingers.

"Speaking from experience huh, _lowlander_?" She knew he wouldn't take offense from her calling him that, because he was just that, a lowlander, and he was damn proud of it.

Dax shrugged, tugging a filthy rag from one of his numerous pockets and wrapping it messily around his hand. "Just sayin', he's a young-ish male rabbit." He admired his handiwork, tying the makeshift bandage off with a knot beneath his wrist. "Could be an option."

If she was being one hundred percent truthful, Jinja also didn't consider that too far fetched an option, and it was coming into spring after all.

But she would sooner rather Meadow take one of her fingers than admit she agreed with Dax to his smug little face.

"Well," Jinja drew out, her tone steady and calculated. "I honestly think he wants a walk." She turned Meadow towards Dax's general direction, the rabbit's front paws reaching for the lush glen ground not too far below. "Maybe he's sick of filthy mits being all over his body."

Dax raised an eyebrow. "But you're the one who's holdin' him." He bat back. "Maybe he just don't want no uppity princess hands smotherin' him."

Jinja's face cracked into her best pout, her brow creasing. "I mean before, genius! You strengthened his resolve and now he's set on having some alone time!"

But Dax looked indifferent. "Then put him down then, he's wild isn't he? Let the poor bugger be wild."

" _Wild_ , Dax," Jinja echoed, and she wondered why he couldn't just get it through his thick skull. "If we put him down, we'll never see him again!"

"Seems unfair to me that Monkfish is keepin' him, if you ask me."

"Nobody asked you, Dax. And besides, Beyal's probably keeping him for a reason."

Dax frowned, now this was getting tedious.

This conversation wasn't going anywhere.

" _Jumpin' to his aid."_ Dax muttered under his breath, too quiet and too quick for Jinja to hear.

"What?" Jinja demanded, ready to sock him one.

"I said we should make him wait until Monkfish gets back." Dax supplemented, his eyes on Meadow. "He's a bloody rabbit and everyone'll be back here in two-ish hours, he can wait."

Monkfish aside, Dax couldn't put his finger on why Jinja was making such a huge deal out of this.

No need to make mole hills out of ant hills.

But she wasn't ready to call it quits. "He needs to be put down, or else we're all gonna get rabies." Dax could tell Jinja was more talking to herself than to him. She often talked to herself as she thought, and she'd take any excuse she was given to ignore him. "But I guess we're pretty much screwed, unless we have a leash for an animal his size so we could keep an eye on him."

An sudden spark shot through Dax's head. "That gives me an idea!" He pulled himself up to his knees, feeling Jinja's bewildered eyes on him as he searched his pockets. "Gimme a sec!"

Almost as instantly as it had lit up in question, Jinja's face fell, her fingers looped around Meadow's belly, one of the only places on his body where his teeth couldn't reach. "No offense, Dax, and by that of course, I mean full offense, but any time you have a hair-brained idea, things usually end up on fire or exploding."

It wasn't that Dax wasn't smart, as much as she sometimes despised him, even Jinja couldn't deny Dax's intelligence and his McGuiver like abilities. He had proven to be extraordinarily quick to think on his feet and surprisingly creative. He had gotten them out of many a pickle.

But yet again, this was also the guy who rummaged through trash cans at every town they stopped over in the hopes of finding a half-eaten muesli bar he could later reuse as a ' _snack for the road'._

She guessed what she was trying to say was that Dax's ideas tended to be a bit on the odd side, occasionally dangerous and had about a 50/50 percent chance of falling through at any given point.

So whatever he'd come up with, the odds were not looking good.

Jinja watched him as he worked, her mouth opening in a yawn.

Dax held up a finger, pushing it to his lips. "Shhhh!" He urged as he emptied his pockets out onto the grass. "I'm tryna think!"

Jinja suppressed the flash of hot annoyance that tore through her and instead settled for rolling her eyes, a sigh escaping from between her lips. "Must be hard."

"You tell me."

The flash returned, this time searing with anger. Jinja went to retort heatedly when Dax's hand tore from his left most lower pocket, clutching a white object in his hand.

She couldn't make out what it was, bundled up in Dax's hands, but whatever it was, he was smiling from ear to ear like he'd just hit the jackpot.

" _Yahtzee!"_ He whispered, his voice riddled with excitement, and for some reason or another, all the alarm bells in Jinja's head started ringing.

Following Dax's example ( _and not wanting to be so comically shorter than Dax, curse his tall genes)_ , Jinja rose to her knees, sauntering forward.

Her eyes were fixed on Dax's hands, and her curiosity got the better of her. "What is it?"

Dax opened his hands, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

A familiar object tumbled from his grasp and Jinja gasped, the white string and noose-like loop that made up it's head tangled around two of Dax's fingers.

 _Dax's snare._

Jinja's hand collided with his shoulder and he almost tumbled over, the snare still tight in his grasp. "You have got to be kidding me!" She shrilled. "A _snare?_ What, so you wanna hang him now?"

Dax shook the snare in front of Jinja's face, seemingly unaffected by her sudden jump to violence. He threw it over Meadow's back, his eyes meeting her's challengingly.

He spread out his arms, waving his hands about. "You said you needed a leash, sweets." He motioned to the snare. "Well, here's ya leash."

Jinja didn't even know how to respond to that, such a high degree of stupidity. Maybe they did it differently in the Lowlands but here, in the normal world, you most certainly didn't decide to up and strangle your animals just because they wanted to walk.

Jinja slipped her fingers under the snare, throwing it back at Dax as hard as she could, which wasn't very hard really, considering it was basically a bundle of intertwining ropes.

"In case you haven't already considered it, Meadow's gonna die two seconds into wearing that thing!" Jinja spat, trying to make Dax see reason. But then again, that was a hefty and near impossible task, considering this was Dax.

Dax laughed, but without humor. He had been around the original four long enough for Jinja to pick up on some of his weird words and catch phrases, and right now, as he so often called it, she knew for a fact that he was ' _taking the mick'._

"Well, yeah." Dax said. "If he wears it whilst it's still a snare. But not if we turn it into a leash."

With a swift fumble of his fingers, Dax unknotted the ' _noose_ ' and slipped the rope into a makeshift ' _leash_ ', or at least it kind of looked like one, but Jinja knew it was going to be nothing but bad news.

Try as she might but she couldn't help it, she had to speak her mind. "That doesn't look very safe." She voiced, because really, no matter how she looked at it, it still looked like a death trap, ready to send Meadow plummeting towards the Underworld.

It was also going to take more than three seconds of fancy finger work to wow her and potentially win her over.

But despite all this, Dax appeared confident, and with a start Jinja realized he had already secured the ' _leash_ ' around Meadow's neck.

She must've had a look of absolute horror on her face because this time Dax laughed hard, his body shaking as he lowered Meadow to the ground, the other end of the ' _leash_ ' secured in his hands.

"Relax, princess, we'll just give him a quick stroll through the woods and be back here for when Monkfish, Glasses and Baby Suno get back." He reassured, but Jinja didn't feel very reassured.

She still was on the fence about the ' _leash_ ', and whilst she wanted to hand Meadow back to Beyal when the time came calm and content, red flags seemed to be popping up everywhere, especially since Dax had been the one to suggest this.

There was also the woods to take into consideration. Were they even safe to venture into, let alone with a fat ( _undoubtedly juicy_ ) rabbit? They'd only set up camp here less than a week ago and no one had had time to even set foot in the woods. God knew what kind of predators and dangers would make quick work of an animal like Meadow.

Jinja glanced back over to Dax, Meadow rolling around the grass and Dax already looking over to the woods.

If she was going to say something, she had to say it now. No way Dax was going to ruin this for her, this could be the final piece in the puzzle, the final act in successfully securing Beyal's love!

Jinja closed the distance between her and Dax, her eyes burning up at his, but he only had eyes for Meadow, romping through some clover, which was no doubt like a field to him.

"I'm seriously not so sure about this," Jinja said, taking on her most level-headed and controlled voice. "Meadow's prey and there's no doubt predators in those woods. I don't think it's worth it."

But her words were like water off Dax's back. "Look how happy he is," Jinja looked down at Meadow, he did look pretty happy. "Now imagine how happy he's gonna be in those woods." He pointed to the woods, but Jinja still couldn't help but think they looked dark and scary. "That's what Monkfish wants right? For his rabbit to be happy? ' _Friends of the forest_ ' or whatever?"

"He did say that." Jinja mused. And he had, Meadow apparently fed off of positive energy, he was a pure animal. And what gave off more positive energy than nature itself?

"Look," Said Dax, finally taking his eyes off of Meadow and looking at Jinja. "Five minutes, we come back, the others come home to us sittin' pretty, and we don't get rabies. It's a win-win if ya ask me, and it also gets us outta the open." Dax's eyes narrowed. "I don't trust this place."

All her other concerns aside, Dax did make a good point.

And Jinja did have the slight tingling feeling as if she was being watched, the possibility of S.T.O.R.M eyes, invisible and unbeknown to her all around her, gnawing away at the corners of her mind.

Five minutes couldn't hurt.

Jinja sighed. "How long until the boys get back? And I'm not asking because I'm about to say ' _yes_!'" She threw in when Dax's eyes lit up.

Dax shook his left arm, enough off his sleeve falling away from his wrist to reveal an illuminated watch face, glowing green, strapped to his arm. "I'd say just over an hour." He mumbled observantly.

Jinja sighed again, _still an hour?_

That was still a considerable amount of time to go.

And surely, five minutes in the woods, surrounded by birds, woodland critters and amazingly luscious, unrivaled greenery away from the open couldn't hurt, right?

She didn't really need anymore convincing than that. "Okay," Jinja sighed, defeated. "Five minutes, but only five minutes."

Five minutes, plenty of time to settle Meadow down and get away from it all for just a second like Dax had said. There also ran the possibility of shutting the lowlander up for more than three seconds.

And truth be told, Beyal hadn't said anything about _not_ taking Meadow into the woods, you know, just a thought.

They'd be fine, Jinja would just make sure to keep a close eye on both Meadow and Dax, Meadow so she could swoop him out of the first signs of any danger and Dax in case he looked like he needed a flogging.

And if push did come to shove and it turned out to be the worst case scenario, it's like she said, five minutes.

Dax grabbed her arm, he started to tug her towards the woods that lay just a little way in front of them, still and undisturbed. "So let's go!" he urged, and Jinja couldn't help but wonder why this little expedition of theirs was working him up into such excitement.

In no time at all, they were surrounded by a thicket of trees, the glen looking in at them a stone throw away.

The forest itself wasn't as big as Jinja had imagined it to be but more of a glorified garden, flowers blooming in every available space that wasn't overgrown with mushrooms and poison ivy, the path they walked on carved out by feet that had long ago trodden this same earthen floor, almost wiped away from existence by every available shade of green.

But so far, to Jinja, it seemed that there were no dangers particularly present, and she couldn't spot a single animal in sight. In fact, the only signs of life in the dense woods seemed to be her, Dax and Meadow, and whilst that in itself should have scared her and would've usually sent her into a panic, for some reason or another today it was oddly peaceful, quaint even.

Jinja was actually enjoying herself, dare she say it.

In fact, the only thing that could make this better would be Beyal's presence, walking along beside her, telling her about the trees and how old they were, what plants benefited from rainfall or growing in the shade, full of natural knowledge.

Maybe she'd bring him back here, just him and her, get him alone for once.

 _If only he could take a hint,_ Jinja thought to herself wistfully.

"Nice, huh?" Dax's gruff voice cut through her thoughts, and Jinja found herself nodding before she'd even had time to process his words.

"Yeah," she whispered, tilting her head towards the spacious canopy, beams of fading sunset light casting a rainbow of reds and oranges across her face. She could feel Dax's eyes on her, but for once she didn't care. She didn't know what it was but the forest was making her feel good. "How's Meadow?" She asked, more out of habit than actual reason. She couldn't see how a place as lovely as this could prove him harm.

"He's fine." Said Dax, Meadow still at his feet. "You know, I've really missed places like this, being away from everyone, feeling like you're the only person in the world, it's the closest thing to home for me."

Jinja snapped out of her dreamy mood, and of course it had been because of Dax, but for once not because he'd said something to annoy her.

Dax really made small talk and it was even rarer for him to talk about his personal life, the life he'd lived before they'd met him in the desert town and he'd fallen into place as the final member of the five.

Part of her screamed that it was insensitive, but Jinja decided to push him further. "Where's home?" She queried, taking on her most casual sounding tone. She may never get a chance to ask again.

But Dax didn't seem to think she was prying, in fact, he seemed kind of relieved to be talking about it. "Caves in the mountains, marshlands in the west," he shrugged, but Jinja didn't think his heart was in it. "Anywhere but here."

Sure, he was opening up to her for the first time since they'd met, but Jinja still felt like she was getting more questions to her own questions than answers. She pressed on, "Why not here?"

Dax laughed under his breath like he thought it was funny that she didn't get it. She cast him a sideways glance, his eyes were thoughtful under his beanie. "Home's somewhere you belong, it doesn't matter if you're moving place to place, as long as you belong, you're good." He looked at Jinja out the corner of his eye. "And no offense but I'm not like you guys, I'm not so easily buddy-buddy with people I've just met." He kicked at a stick at his feet, sending it tumbling across the forest floor and down a small hill, jutting off down to a riverside. "Besides, I stick out like a sore thumb, I ain't even ashamed to admit it. You guys all think so. So this place," he motioned back to the glen laying forgotten behind them. "It ain't home."

"Should that matter?" Jinja spoke, her words tumbling from her mouth before she'd even had a chance to think them through. "I mean, it's like they say right? ' _Home's a person?'"_

This time Dax laughed for real, doubling over.

Jinja shot him a dirty look.

 _Guess bonding time was over._

"What?" Dax gasped, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, still marked by Meadow's teeth. "You guys?"

Jinja frowned. "Well, not necessarily, it's metaphorical but-"

"Darlin, Glasses is a wimp who can't even take two hits, not to mention without a single doubt a virgin."

Jinja didn't know why, but all the color rushed to her face. "Now just hang on a-"

"And Monkfish, don't even get me started!" Dax cut over her, a second bout of laughter starting up in his chest. "Sure, little man can kick some ass but have you seen his arms?" He wobbled his own, the leash dangling from his fingers dangerously loose.

Jinja rushed to his side, trapping his hand in her's, a fire in her belly. They'd made it this far with Meadow, she was not losing him now over a pathetic taunt at her friends. "Dax I'm-"

"Suno!" He cut over her, holding up three fingers, the leash in his right hand only holding onto his thumb. "Got the leadership thing down and you guys' respect but that's about it, hey? Needs to work on his skill set and repertoire if ya ask me!"

Jinja tightened her grip on Dax, trying to wrestle the leash from him, but Dax fought back, pushing her into a tree, her back flush against the mossy trunk.

He grabbed both her arms, his knee between her legs, his eyes trained on and burning into her's. He grinned, displaying a mouthful of impossibly white teeth, fending off her oncoming assaults with ease. "And you," he drawled, stretching out his words as long as he could, clearly enjoying the moment.

But Jinja wasn't one to give in so easy. She kneed him in the shin and he groaned, but Dax held his position, awaiting her answer. "What about me?" She spat, demanding to know. She knew anything Dax had to say about her was bull and only made her angry but she couldn't help it. She wanted to know, she had to.

Dax paused, relishing in her frustrated expression, and ran a hand through her ginger hair roughly, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He lowered his face to her's, so closely his eyelashes almosy brushed her cheek.

He licked his lips and whispered with relish, "Too ginger."

Jinja couldn't recall how she did it, but in less than a second Dax was on his back, rolling around in the dirt and underbrush, gasping for breath as he laughed obnoxiously and dodged Jinja's fists, his hands waving around wildly in the air.

"You ass!" Jinja screeched, her boot colliding into his knee.

Dax pulled himself to his knees, ducking out of the way just in time to miss a punch to the collarbone. "What? Too close to home?" And he motioned at her with a hand.

And that was when it hit Jinja, her eyes falling on it, making a sudden, horrible connection.

That had been his right hand, the hand that was supposed to be holding the leash that kept Meadow in sight and away from the clutches of harm.

And his hand was empty.

" _Dax!"_ Jinja shrieked, her voice impossibly high and it seemed Dax thought so too.

His hands flew over his ears, still in the blissful throe of ignorance, wincing at the sound. "Jeez princess! Tone it down will ya, you're gonna burst an eardrum!"

Jinja's heart pounded in her chest, her ears drowned out with the sound of drumming, drumming so loud she would've been amazed if Dax couldn't hear it too. "Where's _Meadow?" S_ he screeched, throwing herself at him and shaking him violently.

Dax blinked, looking confused. He raised his right hand for her to see. "Uh, where he's been the whole time," he droned matter of factly. "Right-" he looked down at his hand and his words died in his mouth. " _Shit_." He looked back to Jinja, his eyes wide, and although the situation called for it, Jinja believed this was the first time she'd ever seen Dax panic stricken.

And it would probably be the last.

 _She was going to kill him._

She opened her mouth to yell at him some more in her blind panic but a noise off to her left caught her attention.

Jinja whipped her head around, her eyes startled and searching.

Her eyes fell on Meadow, tearing through the underbrush, his eyes set on a massive patch of strawberries. His soft ears, one white and the other his trademark black, bounced as he ran, his fluffy tail only visible when he leapt over obstacles obstructing his path.

Jinja didn't even have time to scream as she watched in horror as his lead, trailing behind him, snagged around a fallen branch, Meadow clearing one last rock before the lead tightened swiftly around his flabby neck, a soft but sickening _snap_ echoing through the woods.

Tears were streaming down Jinja's face before she'd even had time to register what had just unfolded before her.

Beyal's rabbit, innocent, soft Meadow, was dead.

He'd snapped his neck on a tree branch.

Even though she'd seen it with her own two eyes it hadn't felt real, it'd happened so quickly.

She didn't know what to think, what to do.

But one thing Jinja knew for sure was that it was all Dax's fault.

His arms were around her before she even had time to register what was going on, her chest pushed up against his and her chin between his palms, nowhere to look but Dax's dark eyes, completely dumbfounded.

His words were rushed, he knew he was on limited time. When she decided it was time to cut him off, it was over. "It was my idea, I'll take the blame, just stop cryin', please."

But she had nothing to say to him because nothing, and she meant nothing, could ever make this better.

She could feel Dax's fingers pressing into her skin, as if he was looking for something to hold onto. "Say something," he urged, and for once he actually sounded desperate, sincere.

She could feel his thumbs on her face, slippery on her wet skin. For the briefest of moments she realized that this was probably the first time Dax had seen her cry, and Jinja _never_ cried.

Jinja blinked, her eyes burning. She could feel fresh tears welling up in them.

This had been her chance, but she wasn't surprised Dax had taken it from her.

 _She never should've listened to him._

His face swam into focus, and all the venom pooling up on her tongue surged forward, spilling out over her lips as she whispered the final blow, " _Why do you have to screw everything up?"_

Dax was built a little differently, Jinja was sure he didn't experience the full range of emotions that the general population did, and as far as she knew sadness did not exist in Dax's mind.

But even now, watching his face crumple with her own two eyes, his irises glaze over with an odd, implacable emotion, Jinja felt nothing.

He'd ruined her chance and he'd killed a helpless animal.

Next thing she knew, Dax was gone, he'd possibly run off into the forest, but she swore she could still feel the warmth of his touch on her chin.

She slumped down to the floor, falling onto a decaying log and burying her face in her hands. She looked over to where it had all happened, Meadow's final moments, and realized with a shock of grief that his body had disappeared.

Had another animal come to claim it, or was it possible that Dax had tried to get rid of the evidence?

All she knew now was that she didn't even have a body to show for it.

 _What was she going to tell Beyal?_

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped beneath the touch.

She knew who the touch belonged to before she'd even looked up, she didn't want to look up, but her eyes beat her to it.

They trailed up the length of his body, just stopping short of his hands, and she almost did a double take.

A white rabbit with a black ear, Meadow's twin, was nestled in his palms, enjoying Dax's fingers buried behind his throat. Jinja's startled gaze fell on the twin's belly, just peeking out from between Dax's fingers, a tiny splotch of ginger freckled across his pristine fur.

He looked just like Meadow but there was no denying it wasn't him.

 _Now Dax was just being cruel._

She couldn't think of anything to say, she felt exhausted, defeated and awful all at once, but she didn't need to, because Dax offered her the rabbit.

She already knew what he was going to say before he said it, and she was glad because it definitely softened the blow. "He kinda looks like him." And she couldn't help but notice that he sounded hopeful.

 _But he just wasn't Meadow._

Jinja shook her head and she didn't need to look at Dax to see the fall of his shoulders, his crestfallen expression, his complete disappointment. "It's not him, Dax." She croaked, rubbing at her eyes with a sleeve.

But disappointed or not, Dax's persistence hadn't been extinguished. He placed the new rabbit on Jinja's lap, darting away from her the moment the bunny was safe in her grasp. "But it looks like him," he insisted, his voice littered with an array of emotions she'd never heard out of him before.

 _Sadness, embarrassment, guilt._

He wasn't trying to convince her to go along with it, he was trying to convince himself.

But Jinja's mind was elsewhere, it had to be, or the guilt was going to crush her. " _Why did I ever listen to you?_ " And like Dax she was more talking to herself than to him, questioning her own stupidity, her own role in Meadow's demise because even though it pained her to admit it, she'd been apart of it too.

A silence fell between them, only broken by the soft, whispering sound of the new rabbit's chewing, a bunch of clover in his mouth. Jinja had half the mind to put him down on the ground, have him run away, frolic off into the woods and never cross paths with him again.

But she felt so drained, so cheated. She didn't have the energy to do anything.

Dax's hand came into her field of vision, the hand that'd let go of Meadow, his pointer brushing her knuckles gently. "Come on, let's go."

But Jinja stayed, her hands folded over the rabbit. It'd been a simple enough request but she didn't want to go with him, to hold his hand and go back to the glen.

She didn't want to have to face Beyal and hand him this fake, to lie to his face and pretend that everything was okay when she'd just killed his beloved pet.

Dax held it out for a few more moments before dropping it to his side, turning on his heel.

Jinja's eyes remained on ' _Meadow_ ' and she listened to the sound of Dax's feet making their way through the underbrush, out of the forest, away from her.

Dax ran a hand down his face, his palm resting over his mouth. He should've said more, tried to fix this, he'd never seen Jinja that upset.

But if he was being honest with himself, he really had nothing more to say.

It's like Jinja had said, he'd screwed up, big time.

She needed to be left alone and he needed time to gloss this over.

But having spent more time in the woods than they'd planned to, Beyal and the others were going to be back any moment now.

' _Why do you have to screw everything up_?'

Dax blinked slowly.

He and Jinja fought like cats and dogs and he usually didn't take anything she said in his stride but for once she'd been right.

 _This was bad._

He heard a sound behind him but he ignored it, Jinja joining his side before he'd even had time to acknowledge it was her, walking a little ways behind him, her eyes cast to the ground, her hands wrapped around ' _Meadow_ '.

He needed to say something now, say anything, anything that could calm her, soothe her, tell her Beyal wasn't going to notice and she didn't have to take the full brunt of Meadow's death.

But no words came to mind. It wasn't Dax's forte, and for the first time in his life he cursed himself for not being something more.

They walked in silence towards the glen, Jinja wiping her face and Dax's eyes cast to the sky.

 **OoOoOoOoOo**

"Thank you for looking after Meadow, Jinja." Beyal whispered, standing in front of the fire pit. He smiled up at her as he took the rabbit from her outstretched hands. He ran a finger down ' _Meadow's_ ' back, nodding at Dax. "And you too, Dax, I appreciate your efforts very much."

Dax opened his mouth to say something but Jinja cut over him in a quiet voice, "It was nothing." She assured, but she didn't meet Beyal's eyes. "Thank you for trusting him to us."

Dax's hand ghosted her shoulder but Jinja didn't take much notice. This was supposed to be a happy moment but all Jinja could think about was lying to Beyal and having an innocent animal's life on her hands.

Beyal took Jinja's wrist in his grasp, his tan fingers smoothing over her pale skin. Usually Jinja's heart would've been leaping out of her chest by now, her stomach flipping over in somersaults, but she honestly felt nothing.

Beyal ducked his head, looking up at Jinja from under his snow white fringe. "I trust he behaved for you?"

She knew he knew something was up, she had to throw him off, quickly. She flashed him a watery smile, but she knew he'd noticed that it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Yeah," she laughed, but the sound was wobbly and weak. "Nah, he's a good little guy Beyal, you've got quite the companion there."

She knew her words hadn't completely won him over but he seemed a little more pleased. "Good." He smiled, squeezing her wrist before letting go. Jinja almost sighed, yet again, _nothing_. "Also Jinja, are you sure everything's oka-"

"Sweet tea!" Bren boomed from behind Jinja and all three of them jumped. Bren held out a massive bottle of peach sweet tea for Jinja, eyeing Dax suspiciously. The guy usually never so much as flinched. He rolled his shoulders, wrapping Jinja's arms around the bottle and pulling on her sweater. "You gotta come check out the food we got, Jinja! Chase got this trail mix with cranberries and Beyal even spotted you some granola!"

Jinja smiled weakly, her eyes flickering back over to Dax and Beyal. "Um, sounds great, Bren." But for some reason or another it still felt wrong to leave, probably because of the whole lying thing.

But Beyal nodded. "Go, and thank you again, Jinja. I can always count on you."

Jinja's insides turned to ash but she managed a half-hearted nod, ghosting Bren back towards the tents where Chase was sorting cans of food into categorized piles, which was of course Beyal's idea, not his.

"Oh!" Bren gasped suddenly, swinging around on his heel and cupping his hands around his mouth. "We got those _Mars Bars,_ Dax! Come see!"

 _Great_ , Jinja thought, the weight of the world on her shoulders. The last thing she wanted was for Dax to be around her right now, the jackass had seen her cry and she was barely holding it together.

She didn't need anymore stressors.

She wasn't sure if it was by chance but Beyal seemed to pick up on this, his hand latching onto Dax's coat as he turned to join her and Bren. "Just a moment, Dax. I wish to speak with you."

Ordinarily, this would've constituted an groan or an eye roll at least from Dax, but to Jinja's surprise he nodded, turning back around to face him. "Sure."

Jinja hesitated, ignoring Bren calling her but decided to let it go after a moment's consideration.

It'd been a funny day, and stranger things had happened than Beyal and Dax deciding to have a chat.

With one final glance at the boys, Jinja disappeared into the tent, Chase greeting her by swiping her sweet tea, unscrewing the cap and taking a huge gulp of the amber colored liquid.

Back at the fire pit, Beyal motioned for Dax to sit down on one of the fire logs.

Dax did accordingly, his eyes trained on the monk, half of him burning with curiosity and the other half not caring. It was obvious what he was going to say, he knew they hadn't handed him back Meadow and he wasn't going to beat around the bush.

Monkfish was smart, Dax could at least give him that.

It was better to get it over and done now.

"Thank you." Dax muttered, the words like ash in his mouth.

Beyal blinked, stroking the rabbit. "I beg your pardon?"

Dax sighed. "Don't make me say it again."

"Dax, I don't quite-"

"Look," Dax huffed over him, his voice easily drowning out his, even though they were both whispering. "You know it's not Meadow but you didn't say anything to Jinja."

Beyal laid ' _Meadow_ ' across his knees, his eyes on Dax. "That's funny." He said quietly, his words almost lost in the fire.

Dax frowned. "What?"

Beyal lifted his gaze. "You just called her ' _Jinja_ ', you never call her that to her face."

"So?" Dax demanded.

Beyal blinked again, more slowly this time. "Nothing."

Dax drummed his fingers against the log, he was getting impatient.

 _Seriously, if Monkfish had something to say to him he needed to say it now._

"How did it happen?" Beyal asked, his words distant almost as if his mind was someplace else.

"Snapped neck," Dax whispered, not bothering to sugar coat his words. "It was quick."

Beyal nodded. "I sensed that Meadow wasn't long for this world." He knotted his fingers in ' _Meadow's_ ' fur, his eyes vacant. "When I first got him-"

"Can we just cut to the chase, please?" Dax asked, teetering forward on the log. "I mean, why do ya wanna talk to me?"

Beyal's eyes glistened. "You like Jinja, don't you?"

Well, that had thrown Dax off guard completely.

First of all, because Dax hadn't even known that Beyal had the ability to gauge romantic feelings, Jinja had after all been lusting after the guy for the best part of two months now.

Which coincidentally brought him to his second point, it seemed he still wasn't that much of an expert on the whole romance thing because the poor bugger was confusing her feelings for him with, well, _him_.

Seriously, this guy was an oddball, but some days Beyal seemed completely out of his mind.

Dax staggered to his feet, striding over to Beyal and looking at him incredulously down the bridge of his nose. "You're crazy, right?" He must've been. "Jinja? Likes me?" He pointed to himself and then to the tents. " _Jinja?"_

But Beyal seemed confident. "Yes." He said quietly, his voice thoughtful but controlled.

Dax chortled mockingly. "Look, I know you're from the mountains and everything and there probably aren't too many babes where you're from, but Jinja does not like me. I killed your rabbit today, if anything she hates me!"

But Beyal shook his head. "She likes you Dax, she just doesn't understand it yet. She likes you like she thinks she likes me."

Dax clapped his hands together. "And there ya go! You just admitted it yourself! Listen man, if you know she likes you so much why don't ya make a move on it? You're hurting her feelings."

Beyal's expression dropped, his shoulders stiffening. Dax wasn't sure if it was because of his forwardness or because of the ' _hurt feelings'_ thing" _Thinks_ she likes me, Dax, I can't return her feelings, not now." He paused, only the cackle of the fire filling the silence, albeit briefly. "There's just too much else at stake. I can't focus on Jinja and the fate of the world at the same time."

Dax was dumbstruck, he seriously couldn't believe what he was hearing.

 _Was Beyal seriously stringing her along?_

Dax slapped a hand to his face. "I can't even believe I'm having this conversation with you right now. You, of all people." He shot Beyal a questioning look. "Why aren't you telling Jinja this?"

Beyal squared his shoulders, looking deeply into Dax's eyes. "Because I'm not the one who likes Jinja, you are."

Dax lapsed into a stunned silence, a strange feeling washing over him.

Was he sick or was Monkfish just messing with him? He'd never felt the way he was feeling before.

Or maybe it was because as wild and as absolutely crazy as it sounded, Dax found himself wondering if he was right, however impossible it seemed.

He could feel Beyal's eyes on him, watching him closely.

He had to get away, sometimes it felt like that boy could read your mind.

Dax shrugged, hoping he looked as indifferent as he wished he was. "Whatever," he grunted, but Beyal's face was painted with a knowing look. "I'm going to get those _Mars Bars."_

Without giving Beyal a second glance, Dax turned on his heel, making his way back to the tents where Bren and Chase sounded like they were having a grand time, opening packets of sweets and crinkling bags of chips, even Jinja seemed to be laughing.

 _Jinja_.

Dax's heart skipped a beat and he almost flew into a frenzy because of it.

Seriously, what was happening right now, and where the hell did Monkfish get off telling him who he did and didn't like?

But really, was it that terrible a thing?

 _That he had a crush?_

No, he couldn't, it was impossible, especially when it wittled down to Jinja.

But still, _was it possible?_

Dax pushed the feeling down, Jinja's words from earlier in the woods echoing through his head, ' _why do you have to screw everything up?_ '

He wouldn't be forgetting them soon.

And even if what Beyal had said was true, there were too many elements to consider, too many things to stop this from ever progressing, and Dax couldn't believe how much the thought was making him feel hopeless, or even feel at all.

But still, there were things that wouldn't leave his mind, of Jinja in the glen, her hands around his shoulders, her eyes blazing with concern for him and only him, and how fuzzy minded that had made him feel but he'd only been able to grin and tease her.

Of her pressed up against the tree, held tight in his grasp, that danger blazing in her eyes that he'd become so used to, come to live for, the only time he got to see her in her rawest form, his favorite version of her.

Of his body pushed up against her's, trying to stop her tears.

He halted in front of the tent, his mind still racing, Beyal's eyes still burning into his back.

She for one, didn't like him, because Jinja most certainly liked Beyal, no matter how unrequited that love was.

He didn't stand a chance and for some inexplicable reason, it upset him.

He pulled aside the tent flaps, Chase and Bren looking up at him with mischief in their eyes. He crossed the inside silently, hands stuffed into his pockets.

He set himself down beside Bren, Chase tossing him a _Mars Bar_ and Dax ripping it open hungrily, or maybe he just needed a distraction.

He looked over at Jinja and could've sworn her eyes had been on him two seconds ago, burning into the side of his face. She chatted to Chase animatedly, looking happier than she had in hours, her face finally cracked open in a big smile.

Dax's eyes fell to the floor and he ate the _Mars Bar_ in silence.

He doubted Jinja would ever look at him the same way again.

 **OoOoOoOoOo**

 **A/N: And there you have it! A little opened ended but that's usually the nature of angsty _fanfics_ , hey?**

 **But I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Writing is one of those skills where if you want to improve and keep it, ya gotta practice to maintain it. And that's what I use _Fanfiction_ for!**

 **I'm actually open to making this a series of semi-related one shots if that's what you guys wanna see, I know the _Monsuno_ fandom is kinda dead but we're the ones keeping it alive, so let me know!**

 **If you have any feedback, liked my stuff or have any critiques you're dying to tell me, please by all means send a review my way! Good or bad, when I get emails sayin one of you guys reviewed it makes my whole day!**

 **Thanks again guys, your pal ~KennBoKenn.**


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